Key Takeaways:
- The save the date sets the tone for the whole celebration, not just the date and place. Original New Orleans-inspired illustrations — from Jackson Square to Second Line alligators — give guests an early sense of the personality and pageantry of the weekend ahead, before the formal invitation ever arrives.
- The artwork can carry through the entire wedding weekend. A cipher, crest, or illustration introduced on the save the date can reappear on invitations, rehearsal dinner cards, menus, napkins, cups, and thank-you notes, creating a cohesive (but not overly matched) visual thread from start to finish.
- Custom orders need lead time — especially around Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest. Plan on 8–14 months of advance notice, a minimum five-week production window after deposit and final wording, and extra time for special finishes like beveled or hand-painted edges.
The save the date is your guests’ first glimpse of the celebration to come. It should tell them more than when and where—it should give them a sense of the weekend they’re being invited into. This is the first piece of correspondence your celebration sends into the world. And in New Orleans, we’ve never been terribly interested in making a forgettable first impression.
I’m Alexa Pulitzer, a native New Orleanian, and for more than 30 years I’ve been creating original, hand-drawn stationery from my New Orleans studio. My New Orleans save the date cards draw upon the city I know intimately—its architecture, traditions, characters, pageantry, humor, and unmistakable joie de vivre—to give your guests their first taste of what awaits them.
Your guests may not remember every detail printed on the card. But they should remember exactly how it made them feel about coming to New Orleans. Whether you’re planning a New Orleans wedding, a destination weekend, an anniversary, or another milestone worth gathering everyone you love in one place, your save the date is where the story begins.
Below, you’ll find my collection for those who want their celebration to begin with the same personality, intention, and sense of place they intend to bring to the occasion itself.
New Orleans Save The Date Cards That Do More Than Announce A Date
On the surface, a save the date has one job: tell your guests when and where. But the best ones do far more. They offer the first glimpse of the celebration to come, establish its visual language before the formal invitation is ever sent, and ideally become something your guests are still rather pleased to have pinned to the refrigerator months later.
The Illustration That Arrives Before The Invitation
My New Orleans save the date designs begin with original, hand-drawn artwork rendered in the old-world etching style that has been the foundation of my work for more than three decades. The architecture, lush botanicals, wonderfully dressed creatures, and unmistakable characters are all inspired by the city I know and love—a place where even the smallest gathering has a way of becoming an occasion.
My New Orleans Collection is a wonderful place to explore that visual world and discover the motifs that speak to you before we begin creating something of your own.
When you're ready to make it personal, there are several ways we can begin. Many couples choose a custom cipher, intertwining initials from their first or last names into one elegant mark that can travel from the save the date throughout the entire wedding paper trousseau—onto invitations, menus, cocktail napkins, cups, place cards, wedding programs, door signs, and other details of the wedding weekend.
You may also choose an existing, copyrighted Alexa Pulitzer illustration from my collection. Or, for something entirely your own, I can create original artwork inspired by your venue, a meaningful symbol, a beloved pet, a vintage piece of lace, or a wedding crest composed of the icons and details that tell the story of the two of you.
Custom save the dates are designed and printed to order in increments of 25, with the option to have each guest's name and address printed on the envelope for a beautifully finished presentation. Every bespoke project is estimated individually, and a deposit is required before artwork begins. Once the design, quantity, printing details, and finishing touches have been approved, your save the dates are ready to go to press.
What begins as a save the date can become the visual signature of the entire wedding.
How the Custom Save-the-Date Process Works
Every custom New Orleans save the date begins with a conversation about what you have in mind—whether that's one of my existing copyrighted illustrations, a custom cipher, or something completely bespoke, such as an original wedding crest or illustration created especially for you.
Once we've established the scope of the project, I'll prepare an estimate outlining the design, printing, quantity, and any additional details you've selected. A 50% deposit is required to reserve the project and begin the artwork and design process.
From there, we'll develop your save the date and send the artwork for your review. Nothing goes to press until the design and wording have been approved by you. Once approved, your save the dates are printed to order and are drop-shipped to you.
For an especially polished presentation, guest mailing addresses may be printed on the envelopes, saving you the task of addressing each envelope by hand while keeping the entire suite beautifully considered from the moment it arrives in the mailbox.
Once the artwork, wording, quantity, printing specifications, and envelope details are approved, your pieces are ready to go to press and should take about 3-4 weeks to complete from start to finish. Bespoke takes a little more planning—but that's rather the point. Nothing memorable begins with “one size fits all.”
What New Orleans Illustrations Does Alexa Pulitzer Offer?
I've spent more than three decades drawing New Orleans, so couples have a rather wonderful archive of original artwork to choose from when creating a New Orleans save the date or wedding paper trousseau.
Among my most recognizable illustrations is Jackson Square, featuring the Cabildo and Presbytère—an especially personal subject, as Jackson Square was quite literally part of my childhood backdrop. My collection also includes the New Orleans Crest, Kissing Gators, Second Line Wedding Alligators, Second Line Carnival Alligators, lush tropical foliage, and fleur-de-lis, along with many other illustrations inspired by the architecture, traditions, characters, and glorious eccentricities of the city.
For couples who want to venture a little further into my New Orleans world, my New Orleans Toile: Backstreets wallpaper contains an entire illustrated portrait of the city, with scenes including Preservation Hall, a Jazz Funeral at Armstrong Park and Congo Square, a Second Line in front of The Superdome, St. Louis Cemetery, Mardi Gras Indians, Zulu Parade, Jackson Square and the Cabildo, A French Quarter corner: Royal & Orleans, and the infamous Napoleon House. Any of these can provide wonderful inspiration when we begin discussing the visual language of your celebration.
And if the perfect illustration doesn't already exist, I can draw it for you—perhaps your French Quarter venue, Garden District home, beloved pet, family symbol, or a wedding crest composed of the places and details that tell the story of the two of you.
After all, if you're getting married in New Orleans, there is no shortage of fabulous material to draw from.
When Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest & Wedding Season Collide
In New Orleans, sometimes the wedding isn't competing with the festival. It's joining it. Only in New Orleans can a wedding share the calendar with Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest and somehow become even more seductive for it. When your celebration falls during—or deliciously close to—one of these quintessential New Orleans seasons, the save the date is the first opportunity to let guests know they aren't simply coming to a wedding. They're coming to New Orleans.
For a Mardi Gras wedding, Carnival can be expressed with as much restraint or revelry as the occasion calls for. A feather, mask, fleur-de-lis, or beautifully drawn cipher can offer the subtlest suggestion of the season. Or we can embrace the glorious pageantry of it all with an original illustration of the bride and groom Second Lining through the streets behind a brass band. Elegant doesn't have to mean serious, particularly in a city that has spent centuries perfecting the art of dressing beautifully and misbehaving just a little.
For a wedding during New Orleans Jazz Fest, the city becomes an extraordinary backdrop for an entire wedding weekend. Guests can spend their days at the Fair Grounds immersed in incredible live music and New Orleans food, then continue into the evening discovering the hundreds of performances unfolding across the city. For a few glorious days, New Orleans seems to operate entirely on music, food, and celebration.
And then there are the settings that could belong nowhere else. Imagine exchanging vows in a secluded French Quarter courtyard, hidden behind an elegant Creole townhouse, where weathered brick, climbing jasmine, flickering gas lanterns, and the sound of a fountain create the kind of romance that cannot be manufactured. Or gather everyone you love at a grand Garden District mansion, where gracious galleries overlook a lush, almost tropical garden of palms, magnolias, and ancient live oaks—a setting that feels less like a venue and more like being welcomed into a particularly beautiful chapter of New Orleans life.
If you and your guests genuinely love to celebrate, Jazz Fest may be one of the most fabulous times of year to have a New Orleans wedding. Rather than planning entertainment for every waking hour, you've invited everyone to a city already throwing one hell of a party. The wedding remains the main event; New Orleans simply takes care of the encore.
In New Orleans, we don't choose between elegance and revelry. We've always known how beautifully the two can coexist. Once that visual language has been established, it can travel throughout the wedding weekend—from save the dates and invitations to welcome gifts, place cards, cocktail napkins, cups, favors, place cards, wedding programs, flags, and other beautifully considered details. My Gift Tags and Place Cards collection is a wonderful place to begin exploring coordinating pieces.
From Save The Date To The Full Wedding Weekend
A beautifully considered wedding has a visual language all its own, and the save the date is where that story first appears on paper. My custom invitation collections can carry that language throughout the entire wedding weekend—from the first announcement your guests receive to the final celebratory details they encounter once they arrive in New Orleans.
The Save The Date As The Visual Foundation
Think of the save the date as the first chapter rather than a stand-alone piece. The illustration, cipher, crest, typography, and colors you choose can establish the character of the celebration long before the formal invitation arrives.
One of the pleasures of creating a custom wedding suite is watching that first idea evolve. A couple who begins with my Second Line Wedding Alligators, for example, may find those same wonderfully dressed characters making their way onto invitations, welcome pieces, menus, place cards, cocktail napkins, cups, programs, and other details throughout the weekend. A custom cipher might appear discreetly on the save the date, then reemerge on an engraved invitation, a cocktail napkin, or the door sign welcoming guests to the reception.
The result isn't a collection of matching pieces so much as a beautifully composed visual thread—one that gives the entire wedding weekend a sense of continuity without making everything feel overly coordinated.
The Wedding Shower And Engagement Invitations
The wedding story often begins well before the save the date. Engagement parties and bridal showers are the first opportunities to introduce the visual world of the celebration, and their invitations deserve the same consideration as everything that follows.
My Showers & Parties collection features original, hand-drawn designs for bridal showers, engagement parties, and the celebrations surrounding the wedding. A motif introduced at the engagement party might reappear on the save the date; a cipher created for the couple might find its way onto the shower invitation and later the wedding paper trousseau. The same hand, the same illustrative language, and the same New Orleans soul create a sense of continuity without requiring every piece to match.
For the host who wants to carry that artwork beyond the invitation and onto the table, my Custom Personalized Napkins collection offers coordinating designs—including Wedding Second Line Gators and other customizable motifs—to make the shower or engagement party feel beautifully considered from the first envelope to the first cocktail.
The Rehearsal Dinner Invitation
The rehearsal dinner invitation is an opportunity to loosen the tie just a little. Whether the evening is a formal seated dinner, an intimate gathering in a French Quarter courtyard, or cocktails and crawfish boil before the wedding weekend shifts into full celebration mode, the stationery can have its own personality while still belonging beautifully to the larger wedding story.
For couples who introduced a Kissing Gators or Second Line motif on their save the date, that same illustration can make another appearance at the rehearsal dinner—or the evening can introduce an entirely new character. Personally, I love my Poppin' Bottles with Models artwork for precisely this moment: chic, celebratory, and just irreverent enough to suggest that the champagne is about to start flowing. The design is part of my larger Party Animals Collection, an illustrated menagerie of elegant, boisterous, and occasionally wonderfully wild characters inspired by friends and family.
The beauty of choosing an illustration from this collection is that its life doesn't have to end with the invitation. Poppin' Bottles with Models already appears across cups, notecards, gift tags, and other customizable entertaining pieces, allowing the artwork to move naturally from the rehearsal dinner invitation to the cocktail bar and, eventually, to the handwritten thank-you notes sent after the last bottle has been popped.
Planning The Save The Date Timeline
A New Orleans wedding weekend often requires a little more advance planning than celebrations elsewhere. Between destination travel, coveted venues, major festivals, and the wonderfully particular rhythms of the New Orleans calendar, giving your guests plenty of notice is both gracious and practical.
When To Send And What To Include
A New Orleans save the date is typically sent six to twelve months before the wedding, with earlier notice especially helpful when guests will be traveling from out of town. For weddings during Carnival, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, or another particularly festive New Orleans weekend, the more notice, the better. Hotels fill, flights become more competitive, and the city has a social calendar very much of its own.
Once you're ready to begin designing, allow a minimum of five weeks from receipt of the 50% deposit and finalized wording for the custom process. Special finishing details such as beveled or hand-painted edges require approximately two additional weeks, so those beautiful little luxuries are best considered from the beginning rather than added at the eleventh hour.
As for what belongs on the save the date itself, restraint is elegant. Your names, wedding date, New Orleans, and a note that the formal invitation will follow are generally all that's required. The finer logistical details can come later with the invitation and wedding information.
What the save the date should communicate is something less practical and far more interesting: the personality of the celebration to come. That's where the illustration earns its place. The wording tells your guests when and where. The artwork makes them want to be there.
How The Suite Comes Together
The goal isn't to make every piece match. It's to make the entire wedding feel as though it came from the same beautifully imagined world.
The save the date establishes that world, creating the visual language from which everything else can unfold. Beginning with a strong illustration—perhaps a jubilant Second Line scene, an elegant fleur-de-lis, a custom cipher, or a botanical composition inspired by the wedding venue—gives the entire paper trousseau a visual anchor. Each piece can have its own personality while still feeling unmistakably connected to the celebration as a whole.
From there, I'll guide you through the details that give the suite its character: printing technique, paper weight and color, ink palette, typography, and finishing touches. You might choose the crisp, old-world elegance of engraving, the tactile impression of letterpress, or the versatility and more approachable price point of digital printing. We can even create a bespoke envelope liner from one of your own photographs, transforming a meaningful image into an unexpected detail guests discover the moment they open the envelope.
For a wedding weekend encompassing several events, I recommend beginning the conversation well in advance of your intended save-the-date mailing date. That gives us the luxury of considering not simply one piece, but how the artwork and visual language can travel beautifully throughout the weekend—from the save the date and formal invitation to the rehearsal dinner, welcome party, menus, programs, place cards, cups, napkins, and finally, the handwritten thank-you notes that bring the celebration full circle.
When The Save The Date Makes The Biggest Impression
A New Orleans save the date should offer guests their first glimpse of the city, the celebration, and the fabulous wedding weekend to come.
That visual language can continue well beyond the invitation. My Host with the Most collection offers entertaining pieces for carrying the celebration onto the table, while my Customizable Party Cups collection brings your names, cipher, or favorite Alexa Pulitzer illustration to the bar. Together, these details allow your custom wedding stationery and entertaining pieces to feel beautifully connected without being overly matched.
- The New Orleans Destination Wedding: For guests traveling to New Orleans—particularly those visiting for the first time—a New Orleans destination wedding save the date is as much an invitation to the city as it is to the wedding. Original artwork can introduce the architecture, gardens, music, traditions, and unmistakable joie de vivre that make a New Orleans wedding weekend unlike one anywhere else.
- The Mardi Gras Wedding: A Mardi Gras wedding save the date has an especially important job: giving guests plenty of time to secure flights and accommodations during one of the city's most celebrated seasons. Carnival-inspired artwork can be wonderfully restrained or gloriously festive, while sending your save the date early becomes the first act of hospitality for a weekend that requires a little more advance planning.
- The Full Wedding Weekend: When a destination wedding includes welcome cocktails, a rehearsal dinner, the wedding itself, and perhaps a farewell brunch, the save the date can establish the visual thread that carries through the entire custom wedding stationery suite. An illustration, wedding crest, or cipher can reappear on invitations, menus, programs, place cards, napkins, and custom party cups—giving each event its own personality while keeping the weekend beautifully cohesive.
- The Couple Whose Love Story Began in New Orleans: Perhaps you met over cocktails at a favorite restaurant, fell in love while living in the French Quarter, became engaged beneath a Garden District oak, or share a place in the city that belongs entirely to the two of you. A custom New Orleans wedding illustration inspired by wrought iron, iconic architecture, church, home, neighborhood, landmark, or meaningful detail can turn your save the date into the first chapter of your wedding story.
Every custom New Orleans save the date I design begins with one question: What do you want your guests to feel when they open the envelope? For a New Orleans wedding, it should be anticipation—the delicious sense that the celebration has already begun. When you're ready to create your own custom wedding stationery, my Custom Wedding Invitations form is the place to begin.
Frequently Asked Questions About New Orleans Save The Dates
Can I Use Alexa Pulitzer Artwork from My Save the Date or Wedding Invitations on My Wedding Website or With Another Vendor?
No. Alexa Pulitzer artwork is copyrighted and may not be reproduced, copied, digitized, or provided to another vendor for use on a wedding website, signage, merchandise, or other products. Purchasing custom wedding stationery does not include the rights to reproduce the artwork elsewhere.
If you'd like to carry your illustration throughout your wedding weekend, I'd be delighted to create coordinating pieces for you—from invitations and menus to day of needs, koozies, cups, napkins, guest towels, door signs, tote bags, caps, flags, stickers, posters, favors, and other custom details—so the artwork remains consistent from the first save the date to the final celebration.
How Do I Start a Custom New Orleans Save the Date Order?
Every custom New Orleans save the date begins with a conversation about your wedding, your vision, and the artwork that will introduce your celebration. Complete my Custom Invitations Form to share your wedding details and request an estimate.
Because each custom wedding stationery project is created individually, pricing is based on the artwork, printing technique, quantity, paper selections, and overall scope of the suite. Once we've established the creative direction, I'll prepare an estimate so we can begin creating a save the date that feels distinctly yours—and unmistakably New Orleans.
How far in advance should I order a save the date?
I recommend reaching out eight to fourteen months before the wedding date, especially for destination weddings or Carnival-season celebrations, where lead time is critical. Earlier is always better for bigger projects.
Can I Order Matching Cups, Napkins, Guest Towels, or Thank-You Stationery?
Yes! Your wedding artwork can continue well beyond the invitation. I can create coordinating pieces for the wedding weekend—and beautiful stationery for everything that follows—including Personalized Notecards, Customizable Napkins, Customizable Guest Towels, and Customizable Party Cups.
You can carry the same illustration throughout or mix and match different Alexa Pulitzer designs in a consistent ink color for a suite that feels collected, cohesive, and entirely your own.
Can the save the date illustration carry through to the invitation and other wedding pieces?
Absolutely. The original illustration from your save the date can become the visual thread that runs throughout your entire wedding paper trousseau—appearing on the formal invitation, rehearsal dinner and shower invitations, menus, programs, place cards, and entertaining pieces such as flags, door signs, cups, cocktail napkins, and stickers.
You don't have to use the same illustration everywhere, either. I love mixing and matching different Alexa Pulitzer illustrations and printing them in a consistent ink color, creating a wedding suite that feels collected and beautifully cohesive rather than overly matched.
This is one of my favorite ways to work with couples: developing custom wedding stationery with its own visual language and personality, then carrying that story through the entire wedding weekend. Cohesive doesn't have to mean identical. It should simply feel unmistakably yours.
Can My Guests' Names and Addresses Be Printed on the Front of save the date envelopes?
Yes. I can digitally print each guest's name and mailing address directly on the front of the envelope for $2.50 per envelope. You may select from any of these available ink colors to coordinate with your invitation suite.
For white ink, guest addressing is $3.50 per envelope.
Is wholesale pricing available for save the date cards?
No. Because each save the date and custom wedding invitations are created specifically for the client, wholesale pricing is not available on custom or personalized orders.
Can I order just a save the date without a full stationery suite?
Absolutely. While many couples choose to carry their artwork through a complete custom wedding stationery suite, your save the date can be created as a standalone piece. Simply complete my Custom Invitations Form to begin the design conversation.
Whether we begin with an existing Alexa Pulitzer illustration, a custom cipher, or entirely original artwork created for your celebration, your save the date can be designed to stand beautifully on its own.
How Long Does Production Take?
Please allow a minimum of five weeks from receipt of your 50% deposit and finalized wording for custom save the dates and wedding stationery. Special finishing details, such as beveled or hand-painted edges, require approximately two additional weeks.
Because every custom project is created specifically for you, I recommend beginning the design process well in advance of your desired mailing date—particularly for New Orleans destination weddings, Mardi Gras weddings, and Jazz Fest wedding weekends.
Is Rush Service Available?
Rush service may be available, depending on the scope of your custom wedding stationery, our current production schedule, and your required delivery date. Please email sales@alexapulitzer.com with your desired in-hand date so we can determine what is possible.
If we can accommodate your timeline, rush production and expedited UPS shipping fees will be quoted separately. The sooner you ask, the better our chances of making a little stationery magic happen.
